Making the ingenious Pull-out Plate Placemat using leftover Letterpress fabric

Yesterday I showed you how to make the quick and easy Perfect Potluck Placemat using fabric from the Letterpress collection by Northcott. Today I’m making a different version of the Perfect Potluck Placemat – it has extra pockets for carrying plates and cutlery to your next potluck event! I’ll call this the Pull-out Plate Placemat.

This project gives you the opportunity to use up some of the scraps accumulated after making the placemats from the last 3 days. In case you missed them: Book Lover Placemat, Ribbon and Wedges Placemat, and the Perfect Potluck Placemat.

For Pull-out Plate Placemat I used the following fabrics from the Letterpress collection:

• 21891-24 for the front
• 21892-96 for the back pocket
• 21890-11 for the back
• 21891-11 for the inside pocket

You can see all of these Northcott Letterpress fabrics here.

other 

• 10″ strip of ½” Velcro
• some contrasting fabric Northcott’s ColorWorks Premium Solids Black #9000-99 for the front of the placemat and binding

Cutting instructions for one 12″ x 18″ placemat

• 2 – 3½” x 12½” front fabric
• 1 – 7″ x 12½” front fabric
• 1 – 12½” x 18½” back fabric
• 1 – 12½” x 18″ back pocket fabric
• 1 – 11″ x 18″ inside pocket fabric
• 2 – 3″ x WOF black for binding
• 4 – 1″ x 12½” black for placemat front

Sewing instructions

From scraps, sew a strip that measures about 8″ x 14″. I used some of the leftover wedges from Tuesday’s Ribbons and Wedges Placemat along with some other scraps, but you can use only straight strips if you like.

Straighten up the edges and then cut 1 strip 2½” x 12½” and 1 strip 4″ x 12½”.

Sew the front fabric strips, pieced strip sets and 1″ x 12½” black strips together to make the placemat front.

Layer placemat front, batting and 12½” x 18″ piece of back fabric. Quilt as desired. Trim placemat so it measures 12″ x 18″.

Sew 1 – ¾” x 10″ strip of Velcro to the back of the placemat 1½” from the top edge.

Back Pocket

Press under a double-fold ½” hem on one 12½” edge of the back pocket fabric and stitch close to the fold.

Inside Pocket

Fold under ½” on the 2 long sides and 1 short side of the 11″ x 18″ rectangle and press. Fold under and stitch a ½” double fold on the remaining short side.

Stitch the inside pocket to the back pocket, wrong sides together about 1½” from the top and centered from side to side.

Place the other half of the 10″ Velcro strip on the wrong side of the back pocket just below the folded hem and stitch in place.

Binding

Sew the 3″ binding strips together, end to end, to make a strip long enough to go all around the placemat. Fold in half and press. Using a walking or even-feed foot, sew on the binding using a scant ½” seam. Fold binding to back and hand-stitch in place.

Cutlery Bag

I used some leftover strips to make a little bag to carry cutlery and added a piece of grosgrain ribbon so I could tie up the bag securely.

I think you’ll agree that the Northcott Letterpress fabric is just right for this Pull-out Plate Placemat that you can use to carry your plates and cutlery to your next potluck event.

Many thanks to my friend Joan, who has been using her Potluck Placemat for quite a while now, and was kind enough to share her idea with me.

Be sure to come back tomorrow and I’ll show you how I used up more of my leftover Letterpress fabric to make some cute little mug mats.